Understanding consumer online shopping behaviour from the perspective of transaction costs

2.3.4.2 Relative Advantages over Conventional Shopping 
Various online shopping advantages have been identified by the previous cited studies that 
focused on this topic. Some stated these advantages in a general way, including variables 
such as perceived benefit/value (Verhoef and Langerak 2001, Park and Kim 2003, Kim
 et al.
2008, Lee 2009a, Lee 2009b, Chang and Tseng 2011, Wu
 et al.
2014) and perceived 
consequences (Limayem et al., 2000). Other studies employed more specific measurements: 
utility as communication channel (Li
 et al.
1999), convenience (Donthu and Garcia 1999, Li
 
et al.
1999, Swaminathan
 et al.
1999, Eastin 2002, Sin and Tse 2002, Lorek 2003, Chen
 et al.
2009, Saprikis
 et al.
2010, Clemes
 et al.
2013), time saving (Raijas and Tuunainen 2001, 
Goldsmith and Goldsmith 2002, Karayanni 2003, Lorek 2003, Kohli
 et al.
2004, Koyuncu 
and Bhattacharya 2004, Saprikis
 et al.
2010), easy to order (Raijas and Tuunainen 2001, 
Raijas 2002), trying new things (Raijas and Tuunainen 2001, Sin and Tse 2002), financial 
benefits (Van den Poel and Leunis 1999, Eastin 2002, Kim and Kim 2004), price reduction 
(Liao and Cheung 2001) and perceived enjoyment (Koufaris
 et al.
2001, Van der Heijden and 
Verhagen 2004, Parboteeah
 et al.
2009, Al-Maghrabi and Dennis 2011, Domina
 et al.
2012), 
etc.
Generally, most suggested advantages were found to have a positive impact on online 
shopping intention and actual behaviour (Limayem
 et al.
2000, Raijas 2002, Kim
 et al.
2008, 
Saprikis
 et al.
2010, Al-Maghrabi and Dennis 2011, Wu
 et al.
2014). Further, if relative 
advantages of online shopping fit consumers’ shopping orientations or personalities, they are 
more likely to value such benefits and purchase online (Donthu and Garcia 1999, Limayem
 et 
al.
2000, Verhoef and Langerak 2001, Chen
 et al.
2002, Sin and Tse 2002, Blake
 et al.
2003) 

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In addition to the aforementioned advantages, there are other factors related to online 
shopping advantages that have attracted considerable attention from online retailing 
researchers and practitioners. PU and PEOU were extensively found to directly and positively 
influence consumers’ online shopping intention and actual use (Pavlou and Fygenson 2006, 
Ahn
 et al.
2007, Khalifa and Liu 2007, Yusniza 2007, Bigne-Alcaniz
 et al.
2008, Chen
 et al.
2009, Ha and Stoel 2009, Lee 2009a, Lee 2009b, Luo
 et al.
2010, Al-Maghrabi and Dennis 
2011, Lee
 et al.
2011a, Yulihasri
 et al.
2011, Cheng
 et al.
2012, Chen and Teng 2013, Smith
 
et al.
2013). These findings reinforce the fundamental assumptions of the TAM (Davis 1989) 
that usefulness and ease of use of a new technology perceived by potential users are the two 
major contributing factors for adopting the new technology.
However, slightly different from previous studies, O’Cass and Fenech (2003) reported the 
indirect effect, that is, PU and PEOU of web retail influence online behavioural adoption 
through attitude towards web retail. Yusniza (2007) investigated the consumers’ adoption of 
internet shopping in the context of UK travel services. The results of this study yield evidence 
that PU serves as major motive for adopting internet shopping while PEOU is not a 
significant determinant.
2.3.4.3 Trust 
Trust is a concept that has been extensively studied in the fields of sociology and marketing, 
management information systems, and organizational behaviour in the context of business 
and management over the past decade (Morgan and Hunt 1994, Milne and Boza 1999, 
Leonidou
 et al.
2013, Liang
 et al.
2013, Meskaran
 et al.
2013, Schilke and Cook 2013, 
Sekhon
 et al.
2013). Trust is essentially another way of conceptualising risks, specifically 
those related to individuals’ uncertainty regarding the motives, intentions, and prospective 

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actions of others on whom they depend (Kramer 1999). If risks are present, consumers need 
trust on the vendors before conducting a transaction; and the higher the perceived risks, the 
more the need for trust (Hong and Cha 2013, Grazioli and Jarvenpaa 2000). As indicated by 
numerous studies, lack of trust in the online transactions and the online vendors is the most 
fundamental obstacle in the market penetration of e-shopping (Corbitt
 et al.
2003, Gefen
 et al.
2003a, Liu
 et al.
2004, Riedl
 et al.
2010, Kim
 et al.
2011).
Trust has been defined and conceptualised in a number of ways. According to Grabner-
Kraeuter (2002), trust was defined from a functional point of view in that it reduces 
complexities and uncertainties. A number of studies conceptualized trust as an overall 
construct: the trustor is willing to be vulnerable to the action of the trustee (Gefen 2000, Lee 
and Turban 2001, Van der Heijden
 et al.
2003) or a general belief that the trustee can be 
trusted (Jarvenpaa
 et al.
1999, Grazioli and Jarvenpaa 2000, Chen and Dhillon 2003, Kim
 et 
al.
2008). Trust has also been seen as a set of specific beliefs, including ability (ability of the 
trustee to do what the trustor needs), integrity (trustee honesty and promise keeping), 
benevolence (trustee caring and motivation to act in the trustor’s interests), and familiarity 
(trustor familiarity with the trustee) (Mayer
 et al.
1995, Ba and Pavlou 2002, Bhattacherjee 
2002, Shankar
 et al.
2002, Gefen 2002b, Gefen
 et al.
2003a, Kim
 et al.
2013b).
Some researchers combined these two types of definitions to establish their own trust 
construct (McKnight
 et al.
2002, Kim
 et al.
2013b). For instance, Kim et al. (2013b) 
conceptualized trust as the willingness to believe partners in a business contract (Moorman
 et 
al.
1993), the credibility of and confidence in transaction targets and their honesty (Morgan 
and Hunt 1994), and the perceived reliability and favour of the targets (Kumar 1996). As 

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Shankar et al. (2002) contended, the majority of previous studies did not make a clear 
distinction between the underlying dimensions and the antecedents of trust. 
Previous studies empirically tested the role of trust in an online environment and revealed a 
positive effect of trust on willingness to buy online from online vendors (Gefen
 et al.
2003b, 
Pavlou 2003, Pavlou and Fygenson 2006, Chen and Barnes 2007, Kuan and Bock 2007, 
Chang and Chen 2008, Kim
 et al.
2008, Roca
 et al.
2009, Yousafzai
 et al.
2009, Luo
 et al.
2010, Kim
 et al.
2011, Lee
 et al.
2011a, Bock
 et al.
2012, D'Alessandro
 et al.
2012, Hong 
and Kim 2012, Wang 2012, Hong and Cha 2013). 
Contrary to the direct effect, Chen and Teng (2013) reported that trust does not directly affect 
website visitors’ purchase intention toward online shopping, but indirectly through usefulness. 
In other word, usefulness mediates the relationship between trust and purchase intention. Ba 
and Pavlou (2002) and Riedl et al. (2010) investigated impact of trust on online purchasing 
behaviour and found a positive correlation. However, this finding was not confirmed by 
Yusniza (2007) in the study of adoption of travel e-shopping in the UK. The results showed 
an insignificant path from trust to adoption of Internet shopping. Others studies (Jarvenpaa
 et 
al.
1999, Jarvenpaa
 et al.
2000, Kimery and McCord 2002, Van der Heijden
 et al.
2003, 
Yusniza 2007) found trust to have an impact on risk perception reduction with a positive 
influence on attitude towards online shopping. 
Aside from the overall trust, past studies (Chircu
 et al.
2000, Bhattacherjee 2002, Gefen 
2002a, Gefen and Straub 2004, Van der Heijden and Verhagen 2004) also examined the 
effects of specific trust beliefs on intention to purchase online. Integrity and familiarity were 
found to increase purchase intention (Chircu
 et al.
2000, Bhattacherjee 2002, Gefen 2002a, 

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Chen and Barnes 2007, Kim
 et al.
2008), whereas belief in the ability and benevolence of the 
vendor did not show significant effect on intention to purchase online (Gefen 2002a).